BACKGROUND: Teaching philosophy statements (TPS) are concise, reflective narratives that articulate an educator's beliefs, values and approaches to teaching and learning. In health professions education, TPS can serve as...BACKGROUND: Teaching philosophy statements (TPS) are concise, reflective narratives that articulate an educator's beliefs, values and approaches to teaching and learning. In health professions education, TPS can serve as tools for promotion and tenure, teaching portfolios and professional identity formation. Despite their potential to enhance reflective practice and teaching effectiveness, the prevalence and application of TPS in health professions education remain unclear. METHODS: A scoping review was conducted in which six databases were searched for English-language peer-reviewed articles published from 2003 to 2024. Inclusion criteria required that articles address health professions education, include the concept of philosophy and reference an educational process. Data extraction included publication characteristics, educational and career contexts and described uses of TPS. FINDINGS: Fourteen articles met inclusion criteria, representing medicine, nursing, basic sciences, occupational therapy, medical sciences and interprofessional education. Thirteen journals were represented; eight articles were research-focused, with the remainder descriptive, theoretical or narrative reviews. Most commonly, TPS were described as artefacts for teaching portfolios (n = 8), reflective guides (n = 7) or components of promotion packets (n = 6). Few studies examined the impact of TPS on teaching effectiveness, learner outcomes or faculty development. CONCLUSION: TPS appear infrequently in the health professions education literature and are often discussed superficially. While recognised for their reflective and professional development potential, empirical evidence of their direct impact is lacking. Future research should explore longitudinal effects of TPS adoption, their role in faculty identity development and strategies for integrating TPS meaningfully into faculty development programmes.
BACKGROUND: Early development of clinical reasoning (CR) is essential but difficult to embed within preclinical medical curricula. Limited clinical exposure can hinder integration of basic and clinical sciences, whereas...BACKGROUND: Early development of clinical reasoning (CR) is essential but difficult to embed within preclinical medical curricula. Limited clinical exposure can hinder integration of basic and clinical sciences, whereas tutor-led question-and-answer formats may limit engagement, and case-based approaches often rely on clinical facilitators. Clinical Clu-Dr (CC) was developed as a low-resource, gamified approach to support early CR practice in a scalable format deliverable by both clinical and non-clinical educators. METHODS: Adapting the Cluedo concept, CC presents learners with a patient, potential diagnoses and 14-16 mixed-format 'clues' (e.g., lab results, imaging and lifestyle data). In small groups, students analyse and share clues, construct differential diagnoses and confirm a final diagnosis. The design draws on scaffolded learning, cognitive integration and gamification. EVALUATION: Evaluation combined post-module student surveys (n = 128) with reflective facilitator feedback (n = 6; clinical/non-clinical) collected across the delivery of 78 sessions. Surveys captured perceptions of engagement, confidence and clinical integration of the foundational biomedical science teaching, whereas facilitator reflections explored feasibility and delivery. Students reported higher perceived engagement and confidence. Facilitators noted initial challenges adapting to a student-led format but reported strong, inclusive engagement. IMPLICATIONS: CC provides a scalable approach for embedding opportunities for CR practice in preclinical education. Although findings are based on self-reported perceptions, the approach supports engagement and confidence. Successful implementation depends on careful alignment of clues with the module's basic science content and close collaboration between clinical and non-clinical educators. Clinical expertise was not required for effective delivery.
BACKGROUND: Medical students must navigate specialty career decisions and residency applications amid perceptions of conflicting faculty roles. Research is lacking concerning students' interaction with confidential advis...BACKGROUND: Medical students must navigate specialty career decisions and residency applications amid perceptions of conflicting faculty roles. Research is lacking concerning students' interaction with confidential advisors in these high-stakes contexts. APPROACH: This study explored student and faculty perceptions of how students work with confidential career advisors for career exploration and decision-making within a comprehensive advising programme. EVALUATION: This qualitative study queried the perceptions held by medical students and faculty confidential career advisors at the University of California, San Francisco, gathered in interviews between October 2022 and 2023. Interview questions, guided by social cognitive career theory (SCCT), addressed career decision-making. Authors analysed data from interviews with 12 fourth-year students and nine faculty using thematic analysis with sensitizing concepts. Researchers achieved trustworthiness through credibility, reflexivity, triangulation and diverse team expertise, minimizing bias. Three themes characterized how confidential advisors facilitated students' decision-making around specialty career choice: One, trusting relationships enabled students to share openly with limited self-monitoring about their questions, goals and identities; two, supporting students' values strengthened advising within these trusting relationships; three, advising conversations promoted consideration of student-specialty fit as advisors helped students imagine themselves in careers. These themes support the self-efficacy component of SCCT. IMPLICATIONS: Findings suggest confidential advising addresses unique student needs that traditional advising may not satisfy. Other medical schools may consider implementing similar confidential advising models to provide support to student decision-making. Future research should examine optimal advisor training, the impact of advisor approach on student outcomes and long-term career satisfaction among users of confidential advising services.
UNLABELLED: Learning colonoscopy is challenging for inexperienced endoscopists, with competence typically achieved through observation, verbal instruction and hands-on clinical training. OBJECTIVE: Various non-clinical t...UNLABELLED: Learning colonoscopy is challenging for inexperienced endoscopists, with competence typically achieved through observation, verbal instruction and hands-on clinical training. OBJECTIVE: Various non-clinical teaching models have been developed and are used globally. This scoping review identifies these methods and evaluates their learning outcomes. DESIGN: Following the PRISMA-ScR framework, MEDLINE and Embase databases were searched for English-language articles published from 2012 onward. Two reviewers screened eligible studies, resulting in a final selection of relevant full-text articles. The review addressed (1) which teaching methods/tools have been tested for endoscopy training and (2) which methods yield better colonoscopy performance outcomes. RESULTS: From 217 articles, 31 met inclusion criteria. The most common teaching methods were virtual reality (VR) models and physical models, both within and across studies. Other studies included box models, animal models, real-time feedback devices, traditional/verbal instruction models, didactic models and two-person colonoscopy models. Across all studies, participants ranged widely in experience from medical students to experienced specialists, with the effectiveness of training modalities closely tied to the participants' baseline experience. CONCLUSION: Despite the variety of colonoscopy teaching methods, there is limited comparative research on their effectiveness both alone and when integrated with the traditional/verbal learning model. Prior experience appears to be a clear predictor of any model's potential effectiveness. As such, it appears important to tailor any colonoscopy training method to a learner's experience level to optimise skill acquisition and clinical readiness. Further research would benefit from a direct comparison of all teaching methods across a range of user skill sets.
Researchers are increasingly expected to demonstrate that their work leads to impact beyond academia, particularly when seeking research funding. Yet practical guidance on how to plan for, achieve and evidence impact in...Researchers are increasingly expected to demonstrate that their work leads to impact beyond academia, particularly when seeking research funding. Yet practical guidance on how to plan for, achieve and evidence impact in Clinical Education Research (ClinEdR) remains limited. This guide offers pragmatic advice to support postdoctoral researchers in designing fundable projects and producing work that leads to meaningful change. We argue that impact should be considered from the start of a research project, not added at the end. Early and ongoing engagement with potential research beneficiaries, including educators, learners, institutions, professional bodies, policymakers and patients, helps ensure that research addresses real-world priorities. Such engagement can shape research questions, study design and outputs, strengthening both grant applications and the likelihood of downstream uptake. This how to guide outlines the value of articulating a clear impact goal and mapping a credible pathway to impact that distinguishes between outputs, outcomes and longer term benefits. We discuss how methodological choices can enable impact, with attention to participatory, design-based and implementation-focused approaches that have change embedded within them. We also highlight the importance of embedding impact checkpoints throughout a project, recognising that impact is often non-linear, delayed and context dependent. Finally, we describe deliberate, audience-specific dissemination strategies and practical ways to evidence impact beyond traditional academic metrics. Embedding impact thinking across the research lifecycle can enhance the relevance, reach and value of ClinEdR, while supporting postdoctoral researchers to meet funder, institutional and societal expectations.
In this article, we describe how educators can maximise their chances of success when applying for research fellowships in clinical education. We outline the 'Six Ps': Person, Place, Project, Public/Patient involvement (...In this article, we describe how educators can maximise their chances of success when applying for research fellowships in clinical education. We outline the 'Six Ps': Person, Place, Project, Public/Patient involvement (PPI), Preparation and Price; we also address common concerns and provide practical examples of 'easy wins'.
BACKGROUND: This qualitative secondary analysis explored how medical students used mindfulness strategies during a high-stress, multi-day military simulation. Mindfulness training has been increasingly incorporated into...BACKGROUND: This qualitative secondary analysis explored how medical students used mindfulness strategies during a high-stress, multi-day military simulation. Mindfulness training has been increasingly incorporated into medical education to enhance stress management, emotional regulation and performance under pressure, but its application in high-intensity simulation environments remains underexplored. METHODS: Ninety-six medical students completed a single open-ended survey question following the simulation exercise. Responses were analysed using a phenomenologically informed thematic approach to identify patterns in how students applied mindfulness strategies during the event. RESULTS: Three key themes emerged from the analysis: (1) increased leadership capabilities, (2) enhanced physical and emotional resilience and (3) improved team cohesion. Students reported using mindfulness to manage stress, sustain focus and support both personal and team performance during the exercise. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide preliminary evidence that brief, low-burden mindfulness strategies can help learners manage stress and maintain performance in high-intensity simulation settings. Future research should employ more robust qualitative methods and incorporate objective performance measures to better understand these effects and inform broader implementation within medical education.
BACKGROUND: Gender-affirming care is a protective factor for transgender and gender diverse youth, but a lack of healthcare providers trained in this area remains a barrier to access. While clinical guidelines recommend...BACKGROUND: Gender-affirming care is a protective factor for transgender and gender diverse youth, but a lack of healthcare providers trained in this area remains a barrier to access. While clinical guidelines recommend multidisciplinary collaboration and practice, there are limited opportunities for integrated, multidisciplinary education on paediatric gender-affirming care. APPROACH: Affirming & Informed is a multidisciplinary, multimethod training designed to better meet this need for medical and behavioural healthcare providers and trainees. This article describes the curriculum and presents the results of programme evaluation pilot-testing. EVALUATION: As part of routine programme development and evaluation, participants completed presurveys and postsurveys of knowledge, awareness, attitudes, and intended behaviours. A total of 78 participants completed presurveys, and 23 completed postsurveys (out of approximately 128 registered participants). Results revealed high baseline scores in attitudes and intention to provide gender-affirming care and improvements in knowledge and awareness of the needs of transgender youth. Participants rated the content as highly aligned with learning objectives and indicated interest in advanced curriculum opportunities in the future. IMPLICATIONS: The Affirming & Informed curriculum improves knowledge and awareness among providers and trainees across medical and behavioural health fields. Multidisciplinary training in paediatric gender-affirming care can add value to all healthcare providers given the specific overlapping and collaborative nature of caring for this underserved patient population.
BACKGROUND: The association of continuity clinic teams with resident physician experience in primary care settings is incompletely understood. Prior studies have only evaluated team formation concomitant with simultaneou...BACKGROUND: The association of continuity clinic teams with resident physician experience in primary care settings is incompletely understood. Prior studies have only evaluated team formation concomitant with simultaneous changes to block scheduling or medical homes. This institution's resident clinic was rated as an overall poor experience, including perception of inadequate structural support, an incomplete safety net for patient care and inconsistent faculty oversight. This study aimed to assess the impact of team formation on internal medicine resident continuity clinic experience. APPROACH: A single urban academic medical centre implemented team formation in the internal medicine residency continuity clinic after the academic year 2020. This was to promote networks of learners at various stages with multidirectional learning, support and go-to faculty oversight. A pre- and post-survey assessed the clinic comparing Years 2019-2020 and 2021-2022. Twelve teams were implemented within the clinic, each composed of a lead attending and 11-12 residents. EVALUATION: Response rate was 74.3% (313 of 422) from 2020 to 2022. Team implementation was associated with improvement in multiple outcomes of perceived quality of patient care, support in delivering care and overall resident experience in clinic. This was in the setting of similar satisfaction with faculty physicians, nurses and medical assistants. IMPLICATIONS: Team formation utilized reorganization of pre-existing resources and resulted in substantial improvement in a primary care resident continuity clinic experience separate from the benefit of block scheduling. This intervention is an option for other training clinics aiming to improve the residency outpatient experience without hiring additional faculty.
The importance of human factors (HF) is well recognised in healthcare, but clinicians are rarely given dedicated time to study HF and understand how to use it practically in the workplace. Clinical fellowships such as ed...The importance of human factors (HF) is well recognised in healthcare, but clinicians are rarely given dedicated time to study HF and understand how to use it practically in the workplace. Clinical fellowships such as education or simulation fellowships, are commonly undertaken by resident doctors for personal and career development, but HF fellowships remain uncommon. Recognising the need for improved HF education and patient safety, a neonatal intensive care unit in the United Kingdom founded an HF fellowship programme in 2017. These fellowships place an HF fellow on the front-line of clinical work, where they are well positioned to analyse HF within the workplace and effect sustainable safety improvements to benefit patients, staff and the hospital. Educational advantages for the fellow are wide-ranging, including learning about HF concepts and how to apply them, as well as developing leadership, management, communication and research skills. This article outlines how this unique and flexible HF fellowship was established. We suggest that such a programme is easy to initiate, provided there is a suitable funding and a supervisor with HF expertise to guide the resident. HF fellowships can be employed in any speciality, and we recommend that more HF fellowships should be established in postgraduate medical training worldwide.
BACKGROUND: Trainer disengagement, learner passivity and relational mistrust hinder effective workplace-based assessment (WBA) in postgraduate medical education. This study evaluated the impact of two conjoint WBA worksh...BACKGROUND: Trainer disengagement, learner passivity and relational mistrust hinder effective workplace-based assessment (WBA) in postgraduate medical education. This study evaluated the impact of two conjoint WBA workshops on trainees' feedback literacy, trainers' motivation to engage in WBA and relational trust. METHODS: Mixed-methods study engaged 26 trainees and 16 trainers. Quantitative data were collected via pre-post surveys (81% trainee and 75% trainer response rates) using Feedback Literacy Behaviour Scale, Continuing Professional Development Reaction Questionnaire and Workplace-Based Assessment Trust Inventory. Six post-workshop focus groups (24/26 trainees in 4 groups; 11/16 trainers in 2 groups) were thematically analysed. Quantitative and qualitative findings were integrated through side-by-side interpretation. FINDINGS: Trainees demonstrated significant improvement in 'Provide Feedback' (p = 0.04) and 'Manage Affect' (p = 0.01). Trust showed no overall change, though perceptions of trainer ability improved (p = 0.047), reflecting the gradual nature of trust and limits of a brief intervention. Trainers reported higher moral norm (p = 0.04) and belief in positive consequences (p < 0.01). Qualitative findings showed participants reframed WBA as a learning dialogue, valued structured and emotionally safe practice and recognised the need for psychological safety and relational continuity. Yet hierarchical norms, unfamiliar pairings and brief duration constrained trust building. CONCLUSION: Conjoint WBA workshop enhanced feedback literacy and trainer motivation. Although trust gains were constrained by hierarchical culture and short duration, the shared learning model shows promise as a faculty development strategy for trust building. Future iterations should embed conjoint learning longitudinally and incorporate culturally sensitive design to strengthen relational outcomes.